Fullerton, Ca AT&T Store only selling Iphone 3GS to new Customers

I can't tell you how disappointing it is when you have been with the same wireless company for 12 years and someone just signing up gets preferential treatment. I went into the Fullerton, CA AT&T store on Friday morning around 10am to upgrade to a new IPHONE. I was told they were all sold out but I could special order one. So, I did. As I was leaving, I ran into a friend of mine who was just parking. I gave him the heads up that they were sold out and recommended he go inside and order one (he was with Sprint at the time). A few hours later he called me and told me, not only was he able to buy himself an IPHONE, but he was able to buy his wife an IPHONE too. Amazing how I have to wait 2 weeks to get my IPHONE, but a new customer can just walk in and buy 2!!

To me that sounds like they're doing that against policy. Perhaps you should call AT&T and let them know what's going on. That sounds like the same BS retailers pull when a new game console launches and they force you to buy a "bundle" package or go home empty.

I had the similar experience in Philadelphia. As I waited in line for about 20 minutes for a rep to speak with me, I noticed a new customer ordering 2 iPhones for himself and his geeky son. I was, of course, hopeful, that they would have one for me. When I got to the rep and explained I was a business account and wanted to upgrade, I was told that they were sold out of the new phones and that I could order one.

Now, it is possible that the father/son may have pre-ordered, but gathering from their conversation with the sales rep, it didn't appear that way to me.

To make matters worse, I was just at the Apple Store where they had additional phones for purchase and had one for me. But because my phone is on a business plan, Apple cannot sell it to me and I am forced to go to an ATT store. I won't go into a rant on my disgust with ATTs service, but to be forced to only purchase a phone through them and (once again) they were not bright enough to order enough phones on the launch weekend, is just adding to my disgust with this cell carrier.

I am so glad someone finally went public about this issue! I am also a long term ATT customer, maybe not 12 years but I have been a customer for 8 years. I went to the local ATT store in Brea to upgrade my blackberry to the new iphone. When I got there, I was told that they were out of stock and i'd need to place a "special order". Instead of doing that I decided to go wait at the mall...even though I had to sit and wait for a couple of hours. While waiting at the mall I decided to call the same ATT store back and see if they had received any more deliveries. Over the phone I was asked "Do you currently have ATT?" So I said "No, I have T mobile". Not only did the rep offer to HOLD and iphone for me, but they reminded me not to forget a copy of my Tmobile bill!!!! I will never shop at an ATT store again, from here on out I will just go to Apple. Plus the people at Apple are MUCH friendlier.

I had the similar experience in Philadelphia. As I waited in line for about 20 minutes for a rep to speak with me, I noticed a new customer ordering 2 iPhones for himself and his geeky son. I was, of course, hopeful, that they would have one for me. When I got to the rep and explained I was a business account and wanted to upgrade, I was told that they were sold out of the new phones and that I could order one.

Now, it is possible that the father/son may have pre-ordered, but gathering from their conversation with the sales rep, it didn't appear that way to me.

To make matters worse, I was just at the Apple Store where they had additional phones for purchase and had one for me. But because my phone is on a business plan, Apple cannot sell it to me and I am forced to go to an ATT store. I won't go into a rant on my disgust with ATTs service, but to be forced to only purchase a phone through them and (once again) they were not bright enough to order enough phones on the launch weekend, is just adding to my disgust with this cell carrier.

Not sure how that is similar. You may be making assumptions (and you know what they say about those....). It is possible they pre-ordered. It's also possible that they purchased the last two. If you saw someone purchase after you, then that would be different. And even then, you can't tell for sure or your story would have been different.

This makes me disappointed to have ATT as a carrier. I've seen this happen with the 3G as well as the Bold. People who are new customers are welcome to come in and buy the phones, but existing customers who can upgrade get told that they are "sold out" or even told straight up that they are only selling to new customers. I really hope this isn't some kind of "unwritten rule" or something like that.

Thanks to all who have flagged the issue here. The posts are concerning and something we will investigate fully. If you are having this issue, please send your contact information to me at bmays at attnews dot us so we can look into each case. Provide the location you went to, the device you were looking for, the date and the time of the visit and your contact information so we can follow up with you. We want to investigate the allegations to get all of the details around the incidents and ensure that this we can resolve the issue.